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“I don’t know…” She looked equal parts anxious and relieved.
“Look.” I clasped her icy hands in mine. “I’ll make us dinner. Don’t look so surprised, I can cooksomethings. We can relax and not have to worry about what is going on at home for you. I won’t push you or ask you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Have I ever done that?”
“No,” she murmured. “You’ve been the perfect gentleman.”
“Great.” I smiled. “Let me swing by my parents, grab my things, and we can be on our way, okay?”
She nodded, chewing her lip.
I kissed her. “Stop that. It’s okay.”
“I don’t want to impose, I just wanted out for a bit. I was planning on going to Rosalie’s or something but she hasn’t answered my texts. She’s probably out with her boyfriend. I accidentally left my key at her place.”
“So come home with me, crash at my place.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
We drove in silence for a bit before the question bubbled out of me. “Why don’t you move out? Stay with Rosalie or something?”
“I can’t,” she said. “I’ll explain more later but it’s part of my condition with the scholarship and probation. A stable home. A firm address. I could get in some big trouble if they found out I moved.”
I could tell there was more to it, but I didn’t push. Iwouldn’tpush. I could tell she was on the cusp of breaking and letting everything out in the open.
When I pulled in front of my house, she paled. “You can just wait here, okay? I’ll be just a few minutes, alright?”
She nodded, and I kissed her again. I’d never tire of it. I wanted to mark her, let the world know she was mine. Instead, I bit her lip just hard enough for her to let out a small yelp and I soothed the pain away with another soft kiss. “Just making sure you’re awake.”
I tried to sneak into the house. But it became quite evident my quick escape would take some hard-core negotiations.
“Trask,” my dad said, sitting in the front living room next to my mother. I half expected them to be asleep or at least in bed watching reruns of Magnum PI or out with clients. I glanced at the clock. Not even nine-thirty yet.
“Yes?” I asked, not bothering to sit.
“We have some things to talk about.”
“Now?” I asked, glancing at the clock again.
“Trask, honey,” it was my mom’s turn to talk. She knew I couldn’t refuse her. I think she liked to think it was because I was a mama’s boy, wanting only to keep her happy. It wasn’t sweet, it wasn’t an attachment, it was a survival mechanism I learned early on from watching Jude and Mom spar with their screaming matches. She was passive aggressive, and it was just easier to negotiate with the terrorist than stand up to her.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Well, that’s what we want to know,” my mom said.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, out with it.”
“Fine,” my dad said through tight lips. “So be it. It has come to our attention that you have shirked off some of your responsibilities.”
I raised my eyebrows.
Dad continued. “Those applications for internships, the good word I put in for you, was all a waste. You haven’t filled out a single one. Those spots are all filled. Imagine my surprise when I realized that it wasn’t an oversight of the companies, but an oversight on your part.”
I groaned. Now was not the time for this. “I told you, I want to apply for internships once I graduate. I don’t want to do it at the same time, besides, there are loads more, some from sister companies you suggested.” I wanted an internship that focused on old buildings and architecture but they werenotready for that conversation. The Christo internship application would remain my dirty little secret.
“Is it because of that girl?” Mom’s voice wobbled like she was on the verge of crying.
I ran my hand through my hair. I did not need this right now. It was at that moment that I realized, despite our differences, Eliza had it good. No one pulled the strings of her education. She just had to get good grades. I had to perform like a circus animal to keep my parents happy and write the checks.
“I don’t know why you would think my relationship would be enough for me to derail my goals. I had planned this before Eliza came into my life.”
